Traditionally, disposable absorbent garments such as infant diapers or training pants, adult incontinence products and other such products are constructed with a moisture-impervious outer backing sheet, a moisture-pervious body-contacting inner liner sheet, and a moisture-absorbent core sandwiched between the liner and backing sheets.
Much effort has been expended to find cost-effective materials for absorbent cores which display good liquid absorbency and retention. Superabsorbent materials in the form of granules, beads, fibers, bits of film, globules, etc., have been favored for such purposes. Such superabsorbent materials are generally polymeric gelling materials which are capable of absorbing and retaining even under moderate pressure large quantities of liquid, such as water and body wastes, relative to their weight.
The superabsorbent material is generally a water-insoluble but water-swellable polymeric substance capable of absorbing water in an amount which is at least ten times the weight of the substance in its dry form. In one type of superabsorbent material, the particles or fibers may be described chemically as having a back bone of natural or synthetic polymers with hydrophilic groups or polymers containing hydrophilic groups being chemically bonded to the back bone or an intimate admixture therewith. Included in this class of materials are such modified polymers as sodium neutralized cross-linked polyacrylates and polysaccharides including, for example, cellulose and starch and regenerated cellulose which are modified to be carboxylated, phosphonoalkylated, sulphoxylated or phosphorylated, causing the SAP to be highly hydrophilic. Such modified polymers may also be cross-linked to reduce their water-solubility.
The ability of a superabsorbent material to absorb liquid is dependent upon the form, position and/or manner in which particles of the superabsorbent are incorporated into the absorbent core. Whenever a particle of the superabsorbent material and absorbent core is wetted, it swells and forms a gel. Gel formation can block liquid transmission into the interior of the absorbent core, a phenomenon called "gel blocking." Gel blocking prevents liquid from rapidly diffusing or wicking past the "blocking" particles of superabsorbent, causing portions of a partially hydrated core to become inaccessible to multiple doses of urine. Further absorption of liquid by the absorbent core must then take place via a diffusion process. This is typically much slower than the rate at which liquid is applied to the core. Gel blocking often leads to leakage from the absorbent article well before all of the absorbent material in the core is fully saturated.
Despite the incidence of gel blocking, superabsorbent materials are commonly incorporated into absorbent cores because they absorb and retain large quantities of liquid, even under load. However, in order for superabsorbent materials to function, the liquid being absorbed in the absorbent structure must be transported to unsaturated superabsorbent material. In other words, the superabsorbent material must be placed in a position to be contacted by liquid. Furthermore, as the superabsorbent material absorbs the liquid it must be allowed to swell. If the superabsorbent material is prevented from swelling, it will cease absorbing liquids.
Adequate absorbency of liquid by the absorbent core at the point of initial liquid contact and rapid distribution of liquid away from this point is necessary to ensure that the absorbent core has sufficient capacity to absorb subsequently deposited liquids. Prior art absorbent cores have thus attempted to absorb quickly and distribute large quantities of liquids throughout the absorbent core while minimizing gel blocking during absorption of multiple doses of liquid.
In general, some of the most important performance attributes of an absorbent core of a diaper (or any other absorbent garment) are functional capacity, rate of absorption, and core stability in use. Absorption under load or AUL is a good measure of functional capacity and the rate at which that absorption occurs. AUL is a function of both SAP basis weight (mass per unit area) and composition of SAP used in the composite. Baby diaper cores that contain only fluff pulp and a high gel strength SAP maintain adequate SAP efficiency if the core contains less than about 50% SAP. Fluff/SAP diaper cores containing more than 50% SAP result in lower SAP efficiency because of gel blocking. Although fluff/SAP cores at greater than 50% SAP can provide adequate absorbency, the overall basis weight of the core must be increased to compensate for the lower efficiency of the SAP. Increasing the basis weight decreases the performance/cost ratio of the absorbent core, making them uneconomical. Also, increased basis weights tend to affect the fit and comfort of the garment, as well as impacting the packaging and shipping costs.
These are just a few of the disadvantages of the prior art which the preferred embodiments seek to address.